WNWO sees stable weather on weekends

Finding a weekend weathercaster can be a pain in the you-know-what for television's news directors.

Just ask Lou Hebert. WNWO-TV, Channel 24, has used nine people to cover weekend-weather shifts in recent months. That's more than twice the number used by any of the other three competitors.

Soon, WNWO's list will grow to 10. But with it comes some “permanency.” Cleveland native Geneen Anderson has been hired to handle the weather duties on weekends. (Anderson, who comes to Toledo from WICU-TV in Erie, Pa., also will serve as a medical reporter three days a week.)

“Having Geneen here is a big relief,” Hebert said. “It was a weekly chore [to find someone to do the weekend weather]. It was difficult.”

The past two weekends WNWO had a local radio personality -- WXKR-FM (94.5) program director Andi McKay -- do the weather. Hebert said that McKay likely will fill in “on a fairly regular basis.” The most likely times are when full-time employees are on vacation.

McKay, who covers the 10 a.m.-to-3 p.m. shift on WXKR, has no plans to abandon her 15-year radio career. “I just want to do more,” she said.

Meanwhile, WTVG-TV, Channel 13, news director Brian Trauring has lined up Theresa Pollick, a certified meteorologist, to work on an as-needed basis. During her first weekend at WTVG, Pollick did the weather on Saturday's 6 and 11 p.m. newscasts and returned for Sunday's 8 a.m. newscast. Trauring anticipates Pollick will fill in “at least once a month.”

Like McKay, Pollick will keep her full-time job. She is promotions administrator and webmaster for WTWB-TV, Channel 5. She previously worked for Lima's WLIO-TV and WNWO. (WLIO and WTWB are owned by Block Communications, Inc., which owns The Blade.)

BACK ON THE AIR: WTOL-TV, Channel 11, has hired Dan Bumpus as a reporter. Bumpus is returning to television after spending the past eight months working for a public relations firm. Previously, he spent two years as a reporter for WUPW-TV, Channel 36.

BIG BREAK: Former WTOL anchor/reporter Shelby Croft has landed a full-time gig with KPHO-TV, the CBS affiliate in Phoenix. She began working there on a freelance basis during the November sweeps. Croft's role is the same as she had in Toledo: She anchors KPHO's evening weekend newscasts and serves as a reporter three days per week.

ON THE MEND: Former WTOL news director Rick Gevers is recovering from triple-bypass surgery. Gevers, 50, became a talent agent in the 1990s and is based in Indianapolis. Among his clients are two local anchor/reporters, WTVG's Gordon Boyd and WTOL's Rachel Pfanner.

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